


everblue

by joeyroy



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Bending (Avatar TV), Everyone Is Gay, F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi, NO ONE ASKED FOR THIS JOSEPH !, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Past Mai/Zuko (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar)-centric, azula starts a dance troupe, azutara crumbs and also probably tyzula crumbs, except maybe aang, idiots to lovers, ozai was on dancing with the stars ajfsjfdlkjf, side jetshot, side kataang, the gaang are a college acapella group and zuko is their biggest fan, this is basically college glee au plus ...............................dancing ? idk, yueki
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-02
Updated: 2020-08-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:21:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25662772
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joeyroy/pseuds/joeyroy
Summary: maybe if zuko were allowed to join an acapella group he wouldn't be obsessed with acapella groups. but he's not, so he is.
Relationships: Mai/Ty Lee (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 20





	everblue

The first thing Azula did in college was start a new club.Zuko waited for her in the dining hall for almost forty-five minutes on the first day of classes before she finally showed up, looking triumphant and smug instead of flustered and lost as he had expected. 

“They don’t usually let first-years start clubs this early,” she said by way of greeting, dropping her backpack on his foot with a dull _thud_ as she slipped into the booth he’d been sitting in for all this time.She didn’t apologize, but Zuko supposed he hadn’t really expected her to.“But in the end they recognized that I am _more_ than capable of handing the responsibility.” He didn’t ask what had led to this moment of realization.He was pretty sure he knew anyway. 

Zuko took the paperwork she held out to him and looked over its contents.Under “Name of Club,” Azula had written “THE ROYALS” in her boldly looping handwriting, and under “club purpose,” “DANCE TROUPE.”

“‘Troupe’ implies more than one person,” Zuko observed passively.

“Yes, well parsed, Zuzu,” said Azula in that dispassionately sarcastic tone she had mastered at some point during her high school career.“Mai and Ty Lee are co-founders.Perhaps we’ll even hold auditions.” 

Zuko examined the paperwork again, seeing Mai and Ty Lee’s names in Azula’s handwriting under “executive board.”After that, there was a section for the club’s mission statement, which Azula had filled out with words almost directly copied from their father’s company’s mission statement, and under that, a section for “members,” which was nearly empty, save for—

“No way,” he said, reaching for his backpack to pull out a pen.“I _don’t dance_ , Azula, I’m not joining your dance troupe.”

“First of all,” said Azula lazily, snatching the paperwork out of his hands before he could cross his name off, “if it were up to me, you wouldn’t be my first choice.But according to Mother, you’ve spent the past two years playing video games alone in your room, and she _kindly requested_ that I include her favorite child in my activities so that you wouldn’t waste away.”

He wasn’t sure he believed that the request had been _kind_ , per se, or even a _request,_ honestly, but didn’t argue.He could never argue with his mother’s wishes, and if he was being honest, she did have a point.Despite the fact that he was starting his junior year, he could count on one hand the people he actually considered friends, and he wasn’t even sure most of those people would even consider him a friend. 

“And anyway,” Azula continued.“You _do_ dance, especially if Father has anything to say about it.” 

Zuko knew she was right, that if his father had heard him say he didn’t dance he would have gotten a tongue lashing like no other.He rubbed at his scar self-consciously, tried to pass it off as brushing his hair behind his ear, even though he knew Azula’s sharp eyes had seen anyway. 

It had been easier to pretend to leave dancing behind before Azula had gotten into BSSU.He couldn’t change his major, obviously, without his father noticing, but he could limit the number of dance classes he took per semester, take things that actually interested him to fulfill his core requirements.He had even audited a vocal performance class last semester so that it wouldn’t show up on his transcript.The professor had sent him a befuddled email asking why he had audited the course when he was still putting in the required effort to get an A in the class.Zuko hadn’t had the heart to tell him what would happen if his father saw that he was getting any kind of grade in a vocal performance class. 

Things were going to be different now.Not that Azula was a snitch, really, because she wasn’t, unless she thought it would be in her own best interests, but nonetheless he didn’t need her looking too closely at how he spent his time.Better, he supposed, to simply go along with her dance troupe idea, and let that reassure her enough that she would let him be the rest of the time. 

“Fine,” Zuko sighed, and noticed with trepidation the satisfied quirk of Azula’s lips that meant this conversation had gone exactly according to her plan.He picked up his fork and knife again, suddenly wanting to finish his meal as fast as possible.“I’ll join your damn dance troupe.But Mai’s not going to be happy about it.”

+++

“ZUKO!” cried a shrill voice the moment he walked into his first Royals rehearsal, and the next thing Zuko knew, he was on the floor, trapped under a wriggling tiny human.“You’re alive!”

“‘Course I’m alive, Ty Lee,” he said, sitting up and pushing her off him.“You’d have heard if I wasn’t.”

Ty Lee giggled as if he’d said something extremely funny, and Zuko couldn’t help but grin in return.Ty Lee had always had that effect on him, even when they were little kids.It had been awhile since he’d seen her, but she was just the same, except for a couple of extra inches of braid, which he wrapped around his hand to give a gentle, affectionate tug.

Sweet, constant Ty Lee.As a child, Zuko had had a tough time making friends, and so he’d spent most of his free time tagging along after Azula and her friends, even though he was the older of the two siblings.It was a fact Azula never ceased to hold over his head, usually without even saying anything—she had always been the one with the upper hand: with their friends, with their father, with the world.Zuko’s only sanctuary had been his mother, and then, eventually, Ty Lee’s friendship.And after that, there had been Mai, but—

“Well?” came her familiar voice, always so composed as if she couldn’t care less.Zuko knew the truth, and she knew it, but that didn’t mean she’d drop her pretense.“Aren’t you going to say hello to your high school sweetheart?”

Zuko kept his eyes on Ty Lee for a moment, composing himself before he looked up into Mai’s golden-brown eyes.She was still so familiar, but the three years since he had last seen her were written in the slight crinkle of her brow.He pushed himself up off the floor, stood squarely in front of her.Ty Lee’s eyes were on them both, probably analyzing the way their auras were interacting, or something like that.

“Hi, Mai,” he said, softly, ducking his head slightly but never taking his eyes off hers. 

She stared at him for a minute, in just that way that always made him feel like he’d never be loved like Mai loved him, and then she stepped forward to hug him, and Zuko was home. 

They hugged for what felt like forever, and Ty Lee joined them eventually, and Zuko hadn’t felt this way in a long, long time.

“Well _this_ is interesting,” said a voice from the door, and Mai let go of him, stepping back and toward Ty Lee as if into orbit.Zuko turned to face Azula, unconsciously standing between his sister and the other girls.“You know, Mai,” continued Azula, strolling into the room and dropping her dance bag at the side of the room, “it _has_ been awhile since you’ve had any male companionship, hasn’t it?” 

Zuko didn’t have to look at Mai to know that she and Azula were staring each other down.Not for the first time, he wondered how long Mai would have stuck around Azula if not for the career opportunities she was afforded by being the left-hand woman of Ozai’s daughter. 

Ty Lee broke the silence.“Azula, I was practicing the choreography you sent us, and I’m having a little trouble with the bit that goes like this—” she demonstrated a step, and Azula stepped past Zuko and Mai to watch her and offer feedback. 

Mai brushed past Zuko, her head lowered so Zuko couldn’t see her face.He reached out to grab her arm, to pull her back in close because if nothing else they were home to each other, they would always be each other’s safe harbor—

“Don’t,” Mai said roughly, shaking her arm out of Zuko’s grip.He let his hand fall back to his side as she left the room. 

+++

The first week of classes went by in a blur of syllabi, loud orientation events invading all of Zuko’s favorite spots on campus.Mai still would barely look at him, and Azula was insufferable as usual, and Zuko…he had thought maybe things could be different this time.Maybe this time they could be open, and Mai wouldn’t need to worry about him telling her secrets every time she saw him and Azula together.Maybe she could tell Ty Lee how she felt.Even though Zuko knew _he_ could never be open with Azula, he had hoped Mai would get that opportunity, at least. 

But this was just like high school all over again.Two closeted emo kids, doing their best to get through the day without someone finding out their secret.It wasn’t like Azula didn’t know Mai was gay.Everyone knew that Azula knew; it was the elephant in the room every time the four of them were together.Azula was waiting for _something_ , Zuko was sure, but he didn’t know what.They were barely a week into the semester, and Zuko’s life was starting to feel a little like a pressure cooker.Selfishly, he hoped Azula wouldn’t wait too long for whatever she was planning, because he wasn’t sure how much more he could take. 

He sighed, shutting his laptop and shoving his books into his backpack.He hated spending his Saturday nights in the library.Between Royals practice and classes, Saturdays were his only real free nights, but his art history professor had assigned a paper to “assess their skill levels.”And now he had wasted two hours of his precious free time at the library, getting barely any of his work done. 

The path back to his apartment was littered with posters for first-week event posters.Tryouts for intramural sports teams, introductory ultimate frisbee club meetings, newspaper editors’ applications due in two weeks, acapella group showcase, all-inclusive Pride club meeting—wait. ** _Acapella Showcase_** , he read, **_Saturday night in Filene Auditorium, 9 PM_**.Zuko checked his watch.9:13.He could still make it to see at least some of the groups.He reversed direction, made it to Filene in record time, and stepped into the auditorium just as the MC’s announcement concluded. 

“…Please welcome…the Appatones!”

Zuko cheered, almost involuntarily. The Appatones were by far the best group on campus, and their covers were beautiful.They filed out onto the stage, jostling each other as they got in position.Zuko couldn’t help but grin at their good-natured jokes with each other, even though he was too far away to make out what they were saying. 

None of Zuko’s favorite Appatones had graduated, it looked like, since he recognized all of them up there onstage.The music director, a shorter girl with long, intricately braided dark hair, motioned the rest of the group to stop joking around and prepare to sing, bringing her arms up in front of her chest to direct them. 

And then they were singing, and Zuko was absolutely lost.Their writer, a bald kid who had been a first-year last year, was a musical genius, and his harmonies were as tight as any Zuko had ever heard.He’d arranged “One Step At A Time” by Jordin Sparks for tonight’s performance, which was a bit of a departure from his typical fare, but sounded just as incredible.

He’d seen enough Appatones performances to pick out each one of their voices.The music director took the highest parts, and she had a beautiful voice for the solos in this song, gliding over the harmonies like water over rocks.Then there was the alto girl next to her, her short brown hair held back in a ponytail, whose voice was steady and even on the instrumental parts.The writer took the bass parts, even though he barely looked like his voice had broken—the type of singer who still hadn’t quite finished growing into his voice.Then the short girl whose bangs fell in her eyes, who Zuko hadn’t really figured out yet—it almost seemed like she sang every part at once, dancing across the arrangement deftly.And last, Zuko’s favorite—the group’s tenor, who kept his dark hair shaved on the sides and tied into a little ponytail at the top.He was easily the most emotive singer in the group, moving his whole body when he sang and keeping time with his hands.Zuko thought he was mesmerizing.

The group was beautifully rehearsed, and their voices hung together in the still air of the auditorium like a flock of butterflies.The original song was light and fun, but the Appatones brought a dimension of emotion to it that Zuko hadn’t considered before, and it was captivating.As the tenor took his solo moment, singing the chorus of the song over the group’s sumptuous harmonies, Zuko suddenly realized he was crying, tears dripping down his cheeks languidly. _No need to rush,_ the tenor sang. _It’s like learning to fly, or falling in love._ Zuko clenched a fist, resisted the urge to stand up and run out.

The standing ovation the Appatones got was difficult to argue with, Zuko thought, standing himself and wiping away a stray tear.The music director stepped forward as the applause died down, telling the audience the time, date, and location of the group’s upcoming auditions, but Zuko’s eyes were locked on the tenor, watching him and the short girl in green playfully punch each other in congratulations. 

And then the girl in green nudged the tenor, and whispered something, and the tenor looked directly at Zuko, who was in the middle of wiping his tears away.The tenor’s eyes widened, and he looked away abruptly, face going bright red.

 _Huh_ , thought Zuko.

+++

Living in the upperclassman apartments had its perks, thought Zuko, unlocking his front door.Sure, he was farther away from all of his classes, but he had a room to himself, and plenty of space to set up all his equipment. 

He had stayed at the acapella show until the very end, until all the groups had sang, even the ones he didn’t like very much.He always held out hope that maybe the Appatones would come out and do another song, maybe collaborate with another group for some reason, but it never happened. 

Zuko sighed, setting his backpack on the desk chair and plugging his laptop in to charge while he waited for his desktop computer to boot up.It was getting sort of late, nearly 11:30, but Zuko knew he had to record what was in his brain before he lost it to sleep. 

Once his computer had fully turned on, he plugged in his mic and his camera, set up the recording software, and hit record, making sure to stay in the shadowed parts of his room so his face wasn’t visible. 

_One step at a time,_ he sang quietly, knowing at least some of his neighbors were probably asleep. _There’s no need to rush.It’s like learning to fly, or falling in love_.He sang each line over and over, faithfully recreating the Appatones’ harmonies so that he could pull them apart later, dissect each and every note and the purpose it served. 

His father wouldn’t approve of this use of his time, he thought grimly, as a notification on his computer ruined his recording with a soft _ding_ , but what his father didn’t know wouldn’t kill him.The notification bubble proclaiming **NEW EMAIL FROM YOUTUBE** \- **_100 NEW LIKES ON YOUR VIDEO “COVER - ARSONIST’S LULLA…_** popped up in the corner of his screen, but Zuko ignored it, turned on Do Not Disturb mode.Capturing these harmonies just right would take him all night, most likely.Now was not the time to get distracted.

+++

Sokka flopped down on top of his bed, already reaching for the cord to plug in his phone.“It’s about to die!” he exclaimed, to no one in particular.Once that crisis was averted, he stared up at the ceiling of his room, still half dressed in his performance outfit but too exhausted to get up and change. 

A _ding_ interrupted his wallowing in exhaustion, and he glanced at the Youtube notification lighting up his phone screen along with three texts in the Appatones group chat. ** _NEW VIDEO FROM fireprince: COVER - ARSONIST’S LULLABY - HOZIER - FIREPRINCE_** , read the notification, and Sokka scrambled to open it. 

He had discovered Youtube user fireprince about a year ago, but whoever he was, he had been posting videos for nearly four years.Every video was the same—shadowy visuals, beautiful prerecorded instrumentals, harmonies to rival Aang’s, and most of all fireprince's heavenly voice.He took great care to hide his face in each video, but the mystery of it all just drew Sokka in deeper.Because about six months ago, Sokka had discovered a cover of Natalie Imbruglia’s Torn that was almost definitely recorded in the music practice rooms right here at BSSU.Which meant that fireprince could be just about _anyone_ here on campus, hiding an amazing voice and, for some reason, not trying out for the Appatones.And Sokka was determined to change that, no matter how many times Katara said it was useless. 

This would be the year, Sokka told himself.He would find the fireprince, and he would turn him into an Appatone.And then Katara would see. 

**Author's Note:**

> :) find me on twitter @sapphicsokka


End file.
